Apple [pilfers] rips off student's rejected iPhone app — iOS 5 lifts idea, name, even logo — Apple is famous for going to absurd lengths in its effort to enforce patents and trademarks. It recently sued Amazon for calling its app store Appstore. And it has publicly lectured competitors to …

Is Apple recalling Verizon iPad 2s? — Update: We've heard this from an Apple Store employee and have an updated post: … We've gotten numerous tips over the past few hours that Verizon iPads being shipped from China are being being returned to Apple mid-shipment.

Google may have developed Android rival to BBM, iMessage — Google has at least at one point been developing an equivalent to BlackBerry Messenger and Apple's iMessage, an insider mentioned Thursday. Details of the system were few, but it's implied it would be much more than just the existing Google Talk and other IM apps.

Are the Carriers Strangling Windows Phone 7 at Retail? — Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 is just getting started as a platform, but the people actually selling the phones may be favoring its competitors. — Going Shopping for Windows Phone 7 — I did some mystery shopping of my own …

Spain Detains 3 in PlayStation Cyberattacks — PARIS — The Spanish police said Friday that they had apprehended three people suspected of computer hacking in connection with recent cyberattacks on Sony's PlayStation Network as well as corporate and government Web sites around the world.

Getting to one billion iTunes accounts — There are 225 million iTunes account holders. 25 million joined in the three months. As the iTunes store has been operating since April 2003 it's possible to step back and look at its history and measure the rate of growth relative to other ecosystems.

Is It Really Safe to Use a Cellphone on a Plane? — Like most airline passengers, you probably have serious doubts about those pre-flight announcements asking you to turn off your cellphones, blackberries, iPods and anything else electronic. — The announcements are flat-out ignored …

EU states agree on tougher sanctions on cybercrime — (Reuters) - EU countries agreed on Friday on tougher sanctions against people conducting cyber attacks such as those registered in recent weeks against the French government, European institutions and Citigroup.

Location-based services worth $10B by 2016 — Location-based services are expected to bring in $10 billion in revenue by 2016, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The biggest chunk, just over 50 percent, will come from location-based search advertising.

Microsoft's big plans for Xbox Live — LOS ANGELES — Microsoft will partner with regional cable companies to bring live TV onto the Xbox, a new feature that it announced Monday at the Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3). — That means the TV services will be provided through cable …

Inside the US-Anglo-French plan to civilize the Internet — Get ready for international Internet regulation; top leaders from the US, UK, and France are making increasingly public statements about their plans to draft new rules that will make the 'Net more secure and will crack down on copyright infringers.